Hickory Motor Speedway a jumping off point for Late Model prospects

The racing dream for late model drivers Austin McDaniel and Connor
Mosack both started at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Now, both drivers will
be competing just an hour up the road at Hickory Motor Speedway.

Hickory Motor Speedway, a .363-mile semi-banked oval asphalt track
located in Hickory, North Carolina, has become a jumping off point for
many young late model drivers in the south. McDaniel started racing
limited late models there in 2010 when he was just 16 years old.

Now, nine years later, the 24-year-old feels like a veteran.

“Age-wise, I’m probably at the top of the age group now,” McDaniel
said. “As I’ve raced over the years there’s been more and more kids, and
more and more younger kids, at that, that have kind of started racing
at Hickory.I’m probably one of the older ones there, and one of the most
experienced, but the kids, by the time they move up to late models
they’ve been racing in general for so many years they’re pretty tough
coming right out of the gate.”

Hickory Motor Speedway will open the 2019 season on Saturday with Twin 40 lap late model races, limited late models, street stock, super trucks and renegades.

McDaniel grew up in Charlotte, where he said it was impossible to not
fall in love with racing. It’s become a lifelong love too. He studied
mechanical engineering at UNC Charlotte, and works full time at GMS
Racing.

“Just growing up in the area that I did, I lived two or three miles
from Charlotte Motor Speedway, so just being around the area definitely
helps, and you grow up with it so much around you you just kind of grow
into it,” he said. “There’s a lot of opportunities with being so close
to so many race teams and shops. It just kind of caught my attention
early and I’ve been hooked ever since and had the bug.”

The bug caught Mosack at a later age, but Charlotte had a lot to do
with it for him too. Mosack did a Mario Andretti racing experience at
CMS for his 16th birthday, and fell in love with the sport instantly.

Now 19, he will be one of those younger drivers on the track at
Hickory this year. He drove legends cars the last two years, but will
run a full season at Hickory this year in a late model for the first
time.

“I’ve been doing it since and started having a little bit of success last year and and wanted to take it on to the next level,” he said.

Being so close to Charlotte, Hickory provides a good spot for
McDaniel, Mosack and other young up-and-comers to live out their racing
dreams less than 60 miles from the city. McDaniel will only run a
partial schedule there, while also traveling to other tracks like Myrtle
Beach, Tri-County and South Boston. But to him, Hickory will always be
home.

“For the most part the competition is really good, especially at some of the bigger races that Hickory has. We really like Hickory,” McDaniel said.

“I’ve got to race with a lot of different people in a lot of different age groups and experience levels. Over the years the guys who have moved up to the higher ranks of racing, just getting to race against all sorts of experience levels, different car counts, I have grown over the years as a driver in myself. The competition has not gotten any easier the more I’ve gotten experience. There’s still a big challenge, cars are getting better, crews are getting better, the kids are learning as they go on. So even though I feel like we have an upper hand having a lot more experience at Hickory, the competition is still just as tough.”

Those experiences will be new for Mosack this year.

So far, he’s only tested at Hickory a couple of times, and he’s still getting used to the bigger and more powerful car and learning how to conserve tires.

He’s used to learning curves though. He attributes his age to helping him learn how to deal with issues better.

“The first year that I raced it wasn’t on the best team. I didn’t
have the best equipment so I had to deal with a lot of the car not being
how I like it, so dealing with that the first year and getting used to
how to drive it when the car is not good,” Mosack said. “And then this
past year I got with (team owner) Dennis Lambert, he’s the best there is
in legend cars, so making that transition I was able to use his
coaching and learn from bad cars and do well in the good cars. And me
being a little bit older than other kids helped me have a faster
learning curve because I was able to understand things faster.”

This season, Mosack is just focused on getting better as the season
goes on. Starting with just completing all the laps early on, getting
experience, and working his way towards the front.

“Then hopefully by the middle of the summer we should be upfront most
of the time and hopefully get a couple of wins,” he said. “I think if I
can do well there it will pay off at other places and help me out the
most.”

Racing is just a hobby for McDaniel, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t also working to get to Victory Lane this season.

“Having such a good time at it is what’s kept me around. Just really enjoying it, getting to work and go to the track with my family. We’re a family owned team, we own all our own stuff, and besides a couple of guys who help with us it’s all our family helping us,” he said. “The biggest thing this year is to just be competitive every week and being upfront in the top 3. Because once you’re in the top 3 anything can happen, and hopefully end up in victory lane a couple of times this year.”